2. In speaking of AL-LAH in this way, we have to maintain a balance on a knife’s edge between two contradictory tendencies, each of which can damage our faith if not counteracted by the other. On the one hand, we have to beware of our mind’s need to identify Him with our intellectual images of Him, including those that arise from such terms as “Light”, “Knowing”, and “Near”. On the other hand, AL-LAH Himself uses these terms for a reason, namely to prevent us from dismissing Him from our hearts as irrelevant, inaccessible, and impersonal. We say ‘subhanal-Lah’ (transcendent is AL-LAH) to dispel the former error, and ‘al-hamdu lil-Lah’ (praise be to AL-LAH) to avoid the latter. ‘AL-LAHU akbar’ (AL-LAH is greater / greatest) is rather like an amalgamation of these two, as it affirms both His transcendence (i.e., so much greater conceptually as to be incomparable) and His immediacy (i.e., so much more important as to be dearer to us than our own selves) at the same time.
The paradox is neatly conveyed in this verse (Q42:11):
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
3. This tension between GOD’s being both relatable and unrelatable to man cannot be resolved definitely either way; the ardent, honest worshipper must honour both of these claims, the intellectual and the emotional – strenuously clearing images out of his mind while filling his heart with as many ties to the Divine as he can. One way that accomplishes both is to imagine a Reality that would literally blow your mind, thus affirming and negating the image simultaneously – an impossible feat!
When Musa came to Our appointment, and His Master spoke with him, he said, “O Master, let me see You.” He replied, “You shall not see Me. Look, though, at the mountain; if it keeps its place, then you will see Me.” When his Lord appeared before the mountain, He disintegrated it, and Musa fell unconscious. Then, when he awoke, he said, “How gloriously far beyond You are! I turn repentant unto You, and I am foremost of the faithful.” (Q7:143)
وَلَمَّا جَاءَ مُوسَى لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَنْ تَرَانِي وَلَكِنْ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنْ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَى صَعِقًا فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Just as the heat and light we find comfortable in our daily lives are but faint imitations of the extreme conditions at the core of the sun, so are our familiar absolutes, such as rationality, justice, and beauty, mere faded vestiges of the overpowering Absolute Totality that is GOD in all His Glory. We are not designed to handle any of His qualities at any intensity beyond our narrow comfort zone.
Verily AL-LAH does not sleep, nor does it befit Him to sleep. He lowers the Scale [of Justice] and raises it. His veil is Light. If He removed it, the glory of His Countenance would burn everything on which He gazed. (Sunanub-ni Majah, Book 1, Hadith 201)
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَنَامُ وَلاَ يَنْبَغِي لَهُ أَنْ يَنَامَ يَخْفِضُ الْقِسْطَ وَيَرْفَعُهُ حِجَابُهُ النُّورُ لَوْ كَشَفَهَا لأَحْرَقَتْ سُبُحَاتُ وَجْهِهِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ أَدْرَكَهُ بَصَرُهُ
What does His veil is Light mean? The clearest example I can think of is that of the sun and the stars. Most of the stars visible to the naked eye in the night sky are immensely larger and brighter than our sun, but as pinpoints to our sight they are easily extinguished at dawn by the simple fact that the sun is closer. And so a lesser light can ‘hide’ a greater one.
This veiling, indispensable to our existence in this material world, can be considered from two points of view. We can say that the Light, An-Nur, is ‘hiding’ behind veils of His own Light, which means that He, the Inward, Al-Batin, is also manifest as the Outward, Adh-Dhahir, in His veils – the absolutes (knowledge, love, etcetera) that brighten our lives now.
Light upon Light! (24:35)
نُورٌ عَلَى نُورٍ
If, however, we think in terms of what blocks our vision of the Divine, we can say that we are veiled by our regard for these absolutes as our gods, as adequate substitutes for the Total Absolute, or by considering them to be human products rather than manifestations of AL-LAH.
The GOD You Already Know 